The final 2012 cotton numbers released by National Agricultural Statistics Service show an increased yield over the 2011 crop, but the harvest is still below average.

According to the report, High Plains growers produced 2.93 million bales of cotton in 2012, which represents an increase of 1.81 million bales over 2011.

Mary Jane Buerkle, director of communications for Plains Cotton Growers, explained the numbers were close to what she expected.

“The numbers were below average,” Buerkle said, “but they were better than 2011.”

The average production for the High Plains, Buerkle explained, was about 4 million bales. And she said the area needed precipitation to hit the average this year.

“What we need is rain,” Buerkle said. “We’ve seen over the last couple years irrigation can only be supplemental.”

Farmers are doing everything they can to get the crop planted, Buerkle said. But the cold temperatures late in the season delayed planting by about two weeks, she explained.

Before cotton can be planted, the temperature of the soil needs to reach 60 degrees at an 8-inch depth for 10 days. She said the ideal temperature would be closer to 65 degrees.

Recent rains have been helpful to farmers, but Buerkle said they were not consistent across the region.

“Any moisture we get is welcome,” Buerkle said, “but by no means were these recent events drought busters.”

What is needed, Buerkle said, are several inches of rain.

The cotton report for the 2012 crop shows Lubbock County produced 251,100 bales. This makes the county the top producer in the 41-county region covered by High Plains Cotton Growers, ahead of Hale County with 250,700 bales and Gaines County with 245,200 bales.

The county with the lowest reported production was Borden County with only 7,600 bales. Hutchinson County was reported to have the highest yield per acre, at 1,291 — the yield per acre for Lubbock County was 635.